study of stressful events among a group of isfahanis: a preliminary report

this paper reports the preliminary findings of a large scale study on stressful life events, conducted in isfahan city-in center of iran. the purpose of this study was to explore the positive and negative stressful events experienced by some of the inhabitants of this city over the past 5 years. 422 randomly selected individuals belonging to 100 families were interviewed. the interview schedule contained open-ended and multiple-choice questions. results showed that divorce, husband's unfaithfullness, difficulty in finding living accomodations, homelessness, social insecurity, shortage of drugs, and job dismissal were preceived by them as the most severe and negative stressful events. on the other hand, birth of a new baby, engagement, (nikah), marriagem edcational achievement, and haj pilgrimage were perceived by them as good omens. the most common stressful events were prices rise, low income, serious sickness and loss of a family member. financial economic problems turned out to be the most crucial events that a sizeable number of respondents showed serious concern about them.